I see classroom discussion as the true exercise of the philosophical project. Time in the classroom with undergraduates has both challenged me to think and speak clearly and opened me to a variety of views and insights. Explaining Plato's divided line to students majoring in English, Engineering, and Political Science-along with Philosophy majors-is a challenging and exhilarating experience.
To encourage lively discussion of such ideas among the students, I often ask students to prepare a 1/2-page response to the reading before class. Seeing these short papers before class gives me a sense of what students find interesting or puzzling in a reading. Likewise, this exercise gives students an opportunity to think critically about a reading before discussing it, leading to better classroom conversation.
Teaching has also exposed me to new technologies, like the Blackboard, ANGEL, and Moodle website programs, which enable me to post syllabi, receive homework assignments, enter and view student grades, and post supplemental readings online. The online component of a course allows students constant access to course materials, and encourages scholarly use of the Internet.
More than anything, I love teaching because I love having the opportunity to share my enthusiasm for philosophy with educated young people.
On this site, I have posted links to some of the courses I have taught at Seattle U, KU and Augustana, and within the sites for those courses, you can view materials such as syllabi and past exams.
For a brief outline describing my grading criteria, click here.
Courses:
Contemporary Analytic Philosophy (Augustana PL 342)
Classics of Western Thought (Augustana PL 340)
Ancient Philosophy (KU PHIL 288)
Philosophy of the Human Person (Seattle U PHIL 210)
Knowledge and Values (Augustana PL 201)
Introduction to Social and Political Philosophy (KU PHIL 180)
Modern Thought (Augustana Liberal Studies (LS) 112)
Introduction to Philosophy (KU PHIL 140)